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ABET Program Objectives & Outcomes

Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Nuclear Engineering is to maintain and strengthen the University of California's only center of excellence in nuclear engineering education and research, and to serve California and the nation by improving and applying nuclear science and technology. The mission of the undergraduate degree program in Nuclear Engineering is to prepare our students to begin a lifetime of technical achievement and professional leadership in academia, government, the national laboratories, and industry.

Program Objectives

The foundation of the U.C. Berkeley NE program is a set of five key objectives for educating undergraduate students. The NE program continuously reviews these objectives internally to ensure that they meet the current needs of our students, and each Spring the Program Advisory Committee meets to review the program and recommend changes to better serve our students. The NE Program Advisory Committee was established in 1988 and is composed of senior leaders from industry, the national laboratories and academia.

Nuclear engineering at U.C. Berkeley prepares undergraduate students for employment or advanced studies with four primary constituencies: industry, the national laboratories, state and federal agencies, and academia (graduate research programs). Graduate research programs are the dominant constituency; from 2000 to 2005, 68% of graduating NE seniors indicated plans to attend graduate school in their senior exit surveys. To meet the needs of these constituencies, the objectives of the NE undergraduate program are to produce graduates who as practicing engineers and researchers:

Apply solid knowledge of the fundamental mathematics and natural (both physical and biological) sciences that provide the foundation for engineering applications.

Demonstrate an understanding of nuclear processes, and the application of general natural science and engineering principles to the analysis and design of nuclear and related systems of current and/or future importance to society.

Exhibit strong, independent learning, analytical and problem solving skills, with special emphasis on design, communication, and an ability to work in teams.

Demonstrate an understanding of the broad social, ethical, safety and environmental context within which nuclear engineering is practiced.

Value and practice life-long learning.

Student Outcomes

To achieve its five key objectives, the NE program has designed its curriculum and advising to ensure that our graduating students achieve nine key outcomes. We monitor, in a variety of ways, how well we achieve these outcomes for our students, and periodically update our curriculum to continuously improve our teaching.

The graduates of the Department of Nuclear Engineering's undergraduate program will have:

The ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, natural science and engineering to the analysis of nuclear and other systems.

The ability to identify, formulate and solve nuclear engineering problems.

The ability to design integrated systems involving nuclear and other physical processes.

The ability to design and perform laboratory experiments to gather data, test theories, and solve problems.

The ability to learn and work independently, and to practice leadership and teamwork in and across disciplines.

The ability for effective oral, graphic and written communication.

A broad education necessary to understand the social, safety and environmental consequences of engineering decisions, and to engage thoughtfully in public debate on technological issues.

An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.

Knowledge of the importance of, and opportunities for, life-long learning.

To ensure that we achieve these key outcomes, every NE course has a clearly defined set of outcomes that overlap the nine listed above.

The table below shows which NE required and elective courses satisfy each of the 9 NE educational outcomes.

Course

NE Program Outcomes

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

General Nuclear Engineering Program and Joint-Major Programs †

Math 1A, 1B, 53, 54, Calculus, Differential Equations

X

Chemistry 1A, General Chemistry

X

X

Physics 7A, 7B, 7C

X

X

EECS 40 (or 100), Intro. To Electrical Eng.

X

Engin 45, Properties of Materials

X

Engin 77, Intro. to Computer Programming

X

X

Engin 117, Methods of Engin Analysis

X

Engin 115, Engineering Thermodynamics

X

X

Nuc Eng 100, Introduction to Nuclear Engineering

X

X

X

X

Nuc Eng 101, Nuclear Reactions and Radiation

X

X

Nuc Eng 150, Nuclear Reactor Theory

X

X

X

Nuc Eng 104, Radiation Detection Lab

X

X

X

X

Nuc Eng 170A, Nuclear Design

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Technical Electives including courses required for selected area of specialization

X

X

X

Ethics course requirement

X

Humanities and Social Science Electives

X

X

Census Data and Graduate Rates for NE Single Majors

Student Census Headcounts

Class

2013 Fall

2014 Fall

2015 Fall

2016 Fall

2017 Fall

Freshman

24

20

23

11

31

Sophomore

9

13

11

17

10

Junior

13

13

11

17

22

Senior

13

15

11

11

23

Total

59

61

56

56

86

Degree Recipient Headcounts

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

13

7

15

8

9

1

Average Time to Graduation

Average Number of Years to Graduation for Frosh Entry Students

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

4.33

4.00

4.09

4.00

3.94

Average Number of Years to Graduation for Junior Transfer Entry Students

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

2.33

2.50

2.50

2.75

Joint Majors

Nuclear Engineering also has four joint major programs, with Materials Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Chemical Engineering. All of these NE joint majors meet the same NE program objectives and student outcomes as the NE single major, listed above. In addition, each of these NE joint majors meets the program objectives and outcomes of their other respective single major programs.

NOTE: ABET accreditation for joint majors will not be renewed, but students admitted to UCB starting Fall 2017 will still be able to pursue a non-ABET accredited joint major degree (notice that there are many highly ranked engineering programs, such as Bioengineering at UCB, that are not ABET accredited)
.